Customer Reviews

Lizard

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am very pleased with Banana's work so far. Her ability to write beautiful and touching stories is admirable. I love "Kitchen" and "NP", and now, "Lizard."

Even though this is not Banana's best work, it is a fun and enjoyable read. All five stories have a similar theme: spirituality and self-discovery. Like her previous books, Banana touches on the more human and spiritual aspects of the characters' lives. My favorite stories are "Newlywed," "Dreaming of Kimchee," "A Strange Tale from Down by the River," and "Helix." Each story had a touch of magic realism, which is something I love in literature. They were beautiful and surreal. Banana has a way with words. I hope to read a new Banana Yoshimoto novel soon.

If you're in the mood for a classic, Lizard will disappoint. But if you'd like something that won't demand much mental energy but isn't too fluffy, Lizard might just be the ticket. (One of her stories was even serialized in the Tokyo subway system.)

Banana Yoshimoto is certainly a talented writer, and it shows in Lizard. There are many passages that grab you in this collection of short stories. These passages are artfully written: they capture the moment, deceptively simple-sounding yet profoundly resonant. Very easy to read, but not very easy to truly understand. You'll want to savor them over and over.

Yet most of her characters are rather two-dimensional. She brings up a lot of issues about living in today's world, with all of its loneliness and moral ambiguities, yet never fully explores all the issues that she brings up. Each of these short stories could be extended into a novella or a novel, and in my opinion, Yoshimoto should have done so. She often answers complicating issues with cop-out plot twists or well-written but overly brief assessments, instead of more fully examining their implications; thus she compromises the plausibility of her stories.

The genre of magic realism -- which I'd define as works that are basically of the often-gritty realist tradition, but include some elements borrowed from science fiction, fantasy, and mythology -- has much potential, and Yoshimoto has certainly scratched its surface in Lizard.

Yoshimoto has a clean, simple writing style and sensitivity towards things of beauty and truth. If you can overlook plot and character flaws, and appreciate these stories for their beautiful moments, you might like Lizard. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

I became a Banana fan upon reading the first chapter of her novel NP. I bought "Lizard" immediately after I finished NP, resisting the temptation to set high hopes that my second look at Yoshimoto's work would cast the same spell at me. To my surprise, "Lizard" has become one of my favorite short story compilations. I find myself reading many of the tales repeatedly; the last time a short story collection gave me a similar buzz was nearly twenty years ago, when I discovered JD Salinger's "Nine Stories." What strikes me most about Banana Yoshimoto is her empathic voice when she writes from a male viewpoint in the first person. When I read these tales, I feel like Ms. Yoshimoto tries to understand what goes through the minds and emotions of contemporary men. The only other female author who rings my bell (so far) in this respect is Willa Cather. I believe it's a tricky balancing act to write from the perspective of the opposite sex and have it ring true. All stories in this book are vivid and thoughtful, but the title story is the strongest of all. A young man shows us both the gentle strength and fragile secrets inside the girlfriend he nicknames "Lizard." In the same beat he shows us his strength and vulnerability, yet never loses focus on Lizard. I have become a great admirer of Banana Yoshimoto over the past three years. This collection is a great introduction for any reader who wants to give her work a read.

The second of Yoshimoto's books I read, the first being Goodbye Tsugumi. Lizard is a collection of six short stories that makes a rather light and breezy read.

There are no heroes or villains, no twisting plots nor gut-wrenching emotions, just ordinary urban folks, mostly with rather unusual past and/or lifestyles, living in an everyday world.

Gentle, contemplative and optimistic about the quirks of human lives, Lizard touches on the beauty of the moment and the uncertainty of life, on fate, on the past that eats into the future, but also on the future that illuminates the past in a different light.

In Yoshimoto's stories lie the moments of realization that perhaps after all that life has put you through, it may still make sense after all. Combine this with the esoteric leanings of the book in forms of supernatural intervention, power to heal and to will death, utopian village, and such divine understanding between lovers, Lizard ends up feeling slightly light-weight.

Still, Lizard is simple and charming in a disconcerting way, like being out there in seemingly calm waters suspecting there is an undertow going on beneath the surface.

In one of the short stories, the protagonist muses about his girlfriend:

"She screwed them shut and searched for just the right word, and finally (in fact, it probably didn't take more than a second or two) her eyes would open up wide, and she'd be her usual lucid self again. She'd say something like "Understanding is a wonderful thing.

You can't get more straightforward than that, I'd think, but I didn't hold it against her. In fact, I considered her simplicity a great merit, and despaired my lack of similar virtues."

Less straightforward or otherwise, I hear the other stories echo "Understanding is a wonderful thing."

If you wanted to know what kind of literature appeals to the average Japanese female reader of the "me" generation, I might recommend Banana Yoshimoto's slender book of stories, LIZARD. Not that I have my finger so firmly on the pulse of Japanese popular culture, but after reading the book in question, I concluded that that must be the audience she had in mind. They are soft, self-absorbed, rather tentative, sad stories of life at the edges of middle class existence in modern Japan. I imagine housewives and secretaries devouring these stories, identifying the longing, the unhappiness, and the sense of alienation with themselves. However, I'm not going to sit here and pan LIZARD entirely. It might be very good if you're looking for a bit of light reading that still deals with human understanding rather than tales of power, money, and sex. The author is no doubt a thoughtful person and tries to construct stories that make you think. If that's the sort of literature that appeals, then this could be a five star book for you. If you prefer more substantive material---the kind that opens up a world or deals with issues that affect everyone---I doubt if Yoshimoto's writing will go down very well. If you liked her "Kitchen", you'll probably like LIZARD even more, because I would say that the writer has improved her skills, upgraded her tone, and got more of an emotional range. Still, this is the kind of book that, one week after you finish reading it, has totally vanished from your mind, leaving little impression.

"Mom was in a state of shock for a while after that [a crazy man stabbed her mother]. I lost my eyesight, and Dad became compulsive about keeping the house locked up. It was a nightmare. But after a while, my sight came back, Mom started going out by herself, shopping and stuff, and Dad could actually leave home without checking all seven locks he'd installed. But it took years before things really returned to normal." (p.37)

Quite matter of fact for such dramatic events. Rather it makes you say, as though you see a very cute kitten....ohhhhhh. Little description, mainly just dialogue or inner conversation by people who aren't very deep or original. It doesn't challenge. Rather it makes you feel that you aren't so dumb after all. Sorry. Banana Yoshimoto is definitely not for me.

Personally, the book is not as gripping as I would like to be.
But if you're looking only for light reading, then this book is good.

A collection of 7 short stories with an underlying theme of Hope. Each of the character was presented in a situation and a conflict that separates them from their dreams. They put in the struggle and in the end they realized that one step further in their struggle is worth the effort because it changed the outcome of the situation and brought them closer to the realization of their dreams.

Although perhaps each of the stories in this book doesn't really stand out by itself, together they send a powerful message of Hope.

Perhaps you're the type that doesn't have a lot of time. These stories are for you. They take the brilliance of Kitchen and N.P. and put them into quick stories that can be read anywhere. I am thoroughly impressed by the unfaultering quality of Yoshimoto Banana's writing. She is without a doubt one of the most brilliant writers I've had the chance to read. My hope is that more people will become aquainted with her talent and incredible writing ability. Another perfect book to add to my collection--Lizard is awesome.

This understated group of short stories captures young angst in modern Japan. The stories dig into characters attempting to overcome painful pasts, and how the past pain impacts current relationships. Infidelity and uncertainty are treated as part of the learning process.

Yamamoto puts on an androgynous author's voice, switching between male and female first person accounts. The reserved style of leaving much unsaid is similar to that of Haruki Marukami. The book is great for those who appreciate the subtle simpleness. This was the first of her books that this reviewer read - certainly not the last.

Having conquered the novella (Kitchen, two novellas published together), and the novel (N.P.), it was only natural for Banana Yoshimoto to move on to the short story form.

Driving succinct prose that hides as much between the lines as it places amazingly in front of us with the surface levels of the stories. Yoshimoto's writing is to Japanese literature as Feng-Shui is to Chinese decorating: simple, spiritual, deep and insightful.

Six separate stories (including "Lizard") all speak about passion, intensity, confusion and desperation. Yoshimoto's characters embody the lost Generation X philosophy. Deep thinkers unable to figure out the world around them: this common thread runs throughout each of these tales that somehow uplift and manage to celebrate life.

Short stories in a small book that doesn't even reach 200 pages, yet with a Hemingway like brilliance, Yoshimoto forced 800 pages worth of depth into these stories. We begin with an apparently simple read that becomes a stark yet hopeful look into the human condition and the lives of people in their twenties, living in this mind blowing world.

Having read Kitchen first, I proceeded to read Lizard. I guess I enjoyed it; I did finish it and have few complaints. However, I felt that it lacked a certain fluidity of language and style. Who knows? It is difficult to say when you are dealing in translations. Whatever the case, there were a few redeeming qualities and underlying themes... Yoshimoto's skill for creating images that stand out, her ability to hint at bigger themes (although it is disappointing that she neglects to pursue them more deeply.) Such themes that she touches but does not tackle include the transitory nature of things, living a pop culture sort of life in a pop culture sort of world, loss/growing up, self-discovery, reflections on everyday events and how they eventually shape who we are, and the constraints of traditional Japanese culture and the changes within it. But Yoshimoto just touching these matters makes it seem simply... cliche.